More Victory Press

NY 1 coverage is here.

A New York Times article which credits the West Side Rag with breaking the story.

Curbed is impressed that "a blog-slash-petition and some political support" does work!!

WNYC School Book covers the decision here.

Victory Message From Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal

Victory: Upper West Side Successfully Fights off DOE Redevelopment of Our Public Schools

In a victory for Upper West Side schools, the New York City Department of Education (DOE) bowed to community pressure and has announced that it will not move forward with plans for redevelopment at Manhattan P.S. 191 and Manhattan P.S. 199. I am gratified that DOE came to realize that trying to force a project of this magnitude without any public process on the Upper West Side will always be met with a wall of united opposition.

The DOE first proposed to demolish these schools and the School of Cooperative Technical Education on the Upper East Side with an advertisement to developers in a November 2012 issue of Crain's. The DOE would have leased the land to a private developer who would demolish the schools and build luxury housing with a school at the base. Make no mistake about it: this plan was never about education or providing seats for our children--it was conceived as a giveaway to developers. The DOE did not notify anyone in the targeted communities of its intentions and, even after a community outcry, gave just one presentation in February which provided little useful information.

On the Upper West Side, we refuse to stand for the City playing games with our public schools, and I wrote to the DOE to express my disgust with its refusal to engage the community and let parents have a say in its decision on whether to redevelop any of the schools. I also sent DOE a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request for answers to many of the questions it left unanswered  and worked with the affected communities of both schools to organize informational meetings and rallies. The marvelous collaboration with community leaders and  area elected officials culminated last night in a rally and forum attended by hundreds of parents, teachers, children and community members who made their voices heard and said no to redevelopment.

This victory, coming on the heel's of last night's public meeting, would never have been possible without the thousands of Upper West Siders who signed petitions, wrote letters, demonstrated and organized. I especially want to thank the following groups and fellow elected officials for their efforts and advocacy:

Coalition to Save Our Schools

Museum Magnet School / Manhattan P.S. 191 Redevelopment Committee

United Federation of Teachers

Lincoln Square Community Coalition

Amsterdam Houses Residents Association

Coalition for a Livable West Side

New York Communities for Change

Congressman Jerrold Nadler

Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer

State Senator Brad M. Hoylman

State Senator José M. Serrano

State Senator Adriano Espaillat

City Councilmember Gale A. Brewer

However, DOE will unfortunately continue pursuing its secretive redevelopment process at the School of Cooperative Technical Education at 321 East 96th Street. I was told that DOE will release a Request for Proposals, but it does not have a firm timeline for doing so. Targeting the school whose students are most geographically dispersed and less organized does not make DOE's agenda any more palatable. If the East Side community opposes this development, I am sure we will work together to save their school.

I want to again congratulate the Upper West Side on showing the City that we have had enough of backroom deals and secret plans. The students of P.S. 191 and P.S. 199 can go on summer vacation knowing that they will have a school to return to in the fall!

Linda B. Rosenthal

Member of Assembly - 67 AD

WIN!!!!!!!!

Will report more when we know it.  This is great news!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

West Side Rag reports on the news here.

Save Our Schools Forum - AMAZING!

We had an amazing meeting last night.  Braving the rain, 200+ people showed up; a standing room only crowd to mostly speaking out against the DOE's proposal to demolish and rebuild P.S. 191, P.S. 199 and CTE.

Children from P.S. 191 sang, some spoke about their great school,  David Bloomfield spoke about how disruptive and damaging this would be to the kids and about our legal options.

Gale Brewer, Linda Rosenthal and Scott Stringer were all there and spoke as did many parents, students and members of our community.

We know that the DOE is listening!  Stay tuned.

JCC Forum for City Council Candidates

City Council Candidates will speak on Youth and Education

Another good opportunity to quiz the CC candidates on their views concerning PS 199 and PS 191.

June 18th at the JCC

6:00pm - 7:30pm

Details can be found here:

http://www.jccmanhattan.org/cat-content.aspx?catid=2994&progID=28393#/EJCCCC00S3

RSVP is required.

Gale Brewer Writes Letter to DOE Requesting Timely Decision

Click on the image to enlarge or view the PDF here.

DNAinfo Reports: P.S. 199 Parents Break From PTA to Fight Redevelopment at UWS School

DNAinfo reports today on the movement by PS 199 parents against the proposed demolition of the school:

"A group of parents at P.S. 199 is breaking from their PTA to fight against the Department of Education's proposed demolition of their school.  

More than 200 supporters have signed a petition against the DOE's plan, which would give a developer the right to knock down and rebuild the school and develop a high rise
on top of it."

Read the full article here. 

Op-Ed Piece: Coveting Public School Land Leads to a Bad Deal

An Op-Ed piece by Mel Wymore in WNYC SchoolBook (a site created by the NYTimes and WNYC).

Here's one excerpt:

In the case of P.S. 191 on West 61st Street and P.S. 199 on West 70th Street, the ECF requested “expressions of interest” to demolish and redevelop these public schools, offering what amounts to a goody-bag of tax perks for the developers involved. Simply put, it’s a sweetheart deal designed to attract builders of luxury towers, with schools on the lower floors, not one designed to serve our kids, our community or New York City.

Read the full piece here. 

The Coalition to Save Our Schools Public Hearing

We are one of the sponsors of this very important event. Please come to listen, speak and let the DOE know how you feel about their proposal. Please print, distribute an post this flyer.  You can download it here. 

March and Rally this Friday, June 7th!!! - CANCELED - due to weather

The weather forecast has turned for the worse - potential thunder and lightening, therefore, todays rally is CANCELED.


The Save our Schools Coalition is organizing a march and rally in opposition to the DOE demolition plan for all three schools.  Please join us in joining them this Friday, June 7th at 3:30.  The march will begin at PS 191, 61st and Amsterdam and end at Columbus Circle where speakers will be heard with maybe a special guest speaker.

Approximate timing for the march:

3:35pm - Leaving PS191 at 61st & Amsterdam

3:40pm - Pass Lincoln Center plaza (fountain area)

4:00pm - Arrive at Columbus Circle.  Rally will be in the center by the monument.

Please join us at any of these locations.